Sunday, 15 September 2013

Anyone who knows me can tell you
that beauty pageants are not something that I am interested in. If I do watch a pageant it is to admire the
pretty dresses or to mock the contestants as they attempt to answer their interview
questions. I am going to admit that
there were some answers to which I did mock during this year’s Miss Samoa
pageant, however I was mostly disturbed and ashamed at how the interviews were
conducted. We live in a country where
the majority of the population speaks little to no English. To have a rule that the Miss Samoa pageant be
conducted solely in English makes little sense to me. I completely disagree with the Prime Minister
and the STA in their stance to have only English questions asked during the
Miss Samoa pageant.

In a recent article in the Samoa
Observer the Prime Minister alluded that one of the reasons why the rules were
changed to have all English questions during the pageant was because we were
not winning the Miss South Pacific Pageant due to the contestants’ inability to
speak fluent English. I am sorry Mr
Prime Minister but not all English speakers win Miss South Pacific. If we look at former Miss Samoa: Jolivette
Ete we can see that her beauty can be likened to that of a model and to add to
her assets she is an intelligent and articulate young woman whose grasp on the
English language is close to that of a native English speaker. Why do I bring up Jolivette you may ask, well
even with her ability to speak fluent English, Jolivette was unable to secure
the Miss South Pacific Title. There are
also other former Miss Samoa, who were all crowned after the introduction of
English only questions at Miss Samoa who are like Jolivette namely Sherry
Elekana, Gwendolyn Tuaitanu, Olevia Ioane and I am sure that the list goes on. The ability to speak fluently in English is
not what wins a beauty pageant. In fact
Miss Akiko Kojima winner of the 1959 Miss Universe was crowned even though she
knew little English.

When I was younger I admit that I
did watch Miss World and Miss Universe more so then because I liked to see the
pretty dresses not as much to make fun of the interview responses. But even at that young age I didn’t want to
go to a country just because a Miss World was from there. I admired her clothes and her hair but did
not have the drive to travel to a country based on a beauty contest. That is because a beauty contest is about
admiring the beauty of the person and their clothes, shoes, earrings and hair;
it is all about the beauty not the country.
Pageants are not the place to shine as an ambassador to a country. It is where you win the rights to brag at
having won more than one beauty competition.

Miss South Pacific and all other
beauty pageants are a competition and most pageants allow translators. Many times there is little to no time to
prepare a Miss Samoa to contest in the Miss South Pacific. That is where the STA should push to have a
translator present for our contestants so they are able to speak in a language
that they are comfortable with and are not made to look stupid just because
their command of English is not perfect.
And that is exactly what STA did to two contestants at this year’s Miss
Samoa by not allowing them to express their thoughts in their mother tongue.

For public appearances at Travel
conferences etc the winner of Miss Samoa will find it easier to be prepped on
what to say because there is more time and set speeches can be memorized. Whereas you can’t tell a contestant what to
say during a competition because there is no guarantee what the question will
be hence the need for a translator.

I have a few questions for the
Prime Minister of Samoa and the Samoa Tourism Authority, what is the point of
promoting Samoan as a language in Samoa if all we want are people who can speak
fluent English? Why not make English a
prerequisite to all entrants of the Miss Samoa pageant? Because it is discrimination!!! What STA has done is complete discrimination
to all those beautiful and intelligent young women who can only speak
Samoan. To have this kind of treatment
in our own country against our own people is appalling. I hope that you see that this practice is
wrong and needs to be changed. If you
are not prepared to make that change then at least wear your discriminatory
ways proudly and acknowledge that English speakers are your preference for all
future Miss Samoa contestants, because in your minds only English speakers can
win international beauty contests.

Thursday, 15 August 2013

So my book is a collection of 6 short stories. I have just finished the third one, Ella, and thought that I would give you another snippet to try and get you hooked :)

I quickly grabbed my bag but
didn’t have time to grab my shoes as Lupe had begun throwing things at me. I was forced to run even faster as the dogs
chased me through the front gates and I heard the thudding of the rocks being
thrown at me by my ex-husband’s mother.
I ran barefoot on the burning hot road that was covered in tiny rocks
that cut into your flesh all the way to the hotel tears streaming down my face
and my hands shaking.

I stood in the middle of the
reception of the hotel sobbing, my hair all over the place with no shoes. I looked up to see Mike standing there with
his shirt off and water trickling down his six packed torso and without saying
anything he just grabbed me in his arms and held me. He didn’t ask me what was wrong it was as if
he knew what had happened and that I just needed to be held.

Wednesday, 31 July 2013

Recently I have heard many things regarding the Tourism
Development Act. To begin with, the Act
is from 2012, it is now 2013. I am sure
that there were many consultations held during the development of this
Act. Why are we now dredging up a piece
of legislation that has already been passed and is now law? These concerns should have been voiced over a
year ago when they were drafting the Act!

I honestly do not see what the issue is in relation to the
preservation of the reputation of the destination section of the Act. It is purely stating that people cannot write
or say anything that is false about Samoa, the operative word being false. It doesn't say you don’t have the freedom to
voice your grievances regarding incidents that may have been negative. It only says that if you do so and these
negative statements are false then you can be prosecuted.

This is also true of each of us. If someone were to say something false that
was negative about me and it cost me job opportunities or loss of customers as
a result this is regarded as slander and I in turn can sue you for saying such
things. If the statements were in fact
true then I would have no leg to stand on.

It is legislation like this that protects Samoa’s reputation. To me stopping people from telling hurtful lies
whether it is about me, my friend or my country is a good thing and I do not
see what the problem is!

“I went to school with her; she
said she’s here with some of her mates. You never know she could have some hot
friends!”

As Dom hands me my drink he feels
his pocket vibrate and reaches down to get his phone. He reads the text and looks to his left
bursting out laughing.

“What’s so funny Dom?”

“This girl man she just texted me
to ask where I am and that she’s at the bar, uh hello she’s standing right next
to me!”

Dom moves out of the way and
points to the girl standing next to him.
There she stood China doll fair skin, long, straight black hair and big
black eyes with perfect pink lips.

“Watch this!” Dom said as showed me his phone and typed ‘I’m
standing next to you, you egg lol.’

We couldn’t hear her get the
message, just saw her look down at her phone and the most gorgeous smile came
over her face and she looked up and saw Dom.
I was taken by surprise as she squealed like one of those ditzy blonde
girls you see on the movies then she jumped up a couple times before she gave
Dom a massive bear hug.

She was obviously drunk because
what she said to Dom after the hug was barely understandable. Dom looked over her shoulder and gave me an
oh crap look. Then she went silent and
just stood there. That is when Dom
turned her to me and introduced us.

“Lily this is my friend Sefulu, Sefulu
this is Lily.”

I put my hand out to shake hers
and was shocked when I looked up and she was literally in my face.

“You’re drinking too slowly!” she
shouted.

My lips parted to form a response
but before a sound could come out she cut me off.

“Stop being a pussy! Skull…skull…skull!”

She stood there and watched till
I had skulled my whole drink, then she turned around and walked away.

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

So I have had the attack of the insomnia monster these last couple of days, which has meant that I have had some time to write. I have started writing two more short stories to add to my collection. Here is a snippet from one of them titled Ella. I hope you enjoy it. Remember that if you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to let me know.

Thanks!!!!

Ella

By Morwenna Petaia

“Do you Ella take Apelu to be
your lawfully wedded husband to love and to hold from this day forth?”

“This amazing man standing before
me, who you all know as Bruce, is a wonderful, kind, thoughtful and selfless
man who since I met him has brought me so much happiness and makes me want to
be a better person. Of course I want to
be his wife!”

“And do you Apelu take Ella to be
your lawfully wedded wife to love and to hold from this day forth?”

“My life has been far from easy,
particularly moving away from my parents in Samoa but ever since I met Ella I
have had nothing but peace of mind and I want my life to continue to have the
beauty that is only brought about by having Ella by my side. I would love nothing more than to have the
privilege of being Ella’s husband.”

Tears ran down my face the second
Bruce spoke those words, it didn’t even bother me that my mascara was running
and we hadn’t even taken photos yet. The
warmth that pulsed through my body at the knowledge that I finally found a man
who was honest, cute, and intelligent, had a good job, and was kind and funny
and he loved me just as much as I loved him and he just agreed to be my
husband! These tears of sheer joy ran
freely as Bruce lifted my veil and kissed me as my husband.

Bruce held my hand and guided me
to the dance floor; it was our first official dance as a married couple. I had spent weeks before our wedding teaching
him the waltz. It took a few weeks of
bruised feet but Bruce being the determined man that he is managed to out dance
me at our last practice session. I could
tell he was nervous because he started sniffling, his nose always runs when he
is nervous. I gently squeezed his hand
and whispered in his ear “you will do great baby, just pretend it’s just the
two of us.” The music started and the
soulful tones of Otis Redding filled the room “These arms of mine…” We moved around the room in unison and I got
lost in his arms and the closeness and the rhythm of the song made me wish that
it was just the two of us. I put my head
on his shoulder and breathed in his sweet scent, always fresh and clean with a
whiff of a fragrance I could never figure out.
I am still in awe that such a good man would be in love with me and has
married me and that he also loves my daughter Sharon, even though he is not her
biological father. I felt so safe in
his strong arms and I looked around the room and I was so proud of my husband
and that all our guests were here to witness our love. They all wore such lovely colours.

Then all too quickly the colours
faded to grey and the memories of that beautiful day blurred into the kitchen
table and I heard his voice, that annoying high pitched almost a screech voice. “It’s not a hickey honey, it’s a bruise. I went to the doctor and got some
hydrocortisone cream. If you don’t
believe me you can call the doctor and ask.”

You would think that after all
this time he would come up with some more believable excuses for his adultery
but no, Peter is far from being any kind of a man compared to Bruce, my sweet
Bruce.

Sunday, 28 April 2013

So a while ago I posted a snippet of the short story that I have been working on, Candy. I have finally finished a draft that I think is good enough for everyone to read and give me some feedback on to make it better. So here it is, let me know what you think works or doesn't work and just anything you feel like sharing to help me out.

Thanks!

Candy

By Morwenna Petaia

My name is Candice Palemia, but
people call me Candy. You would think
that Candy is a shortened version of my name Candice, but it’s not. My Uncle Iosua came to visit from Hawaii when
I was just learning to speak. Being
Samoan he brought over an oso, which is a cultural tradition of bringing a gift
to those you are visiting. Uncle Iosua
brought over a whole bunch of Hersheys chocolate kisses and nuggets. Living in Australia we call them chocolates,
but being American Uncle Iosua called them candy. When I indicated for some he wouldn’t give me
any until I called them candy. Even
after I cried and cried and rolled on the floor stopping only to bang my
forehead on the ground he would not budge.
I tried and tried first it was tandy, then it was gandy then two weeks
later it happened, I stood in front of Uncle Iosua with my outstretched hand
barely reaching his knee and asked “candy?”
I was so happy to get my candy that anytime I saw someone I put my hand
out and asked “candy?” Even after the
bags of candy were finished I would still ask people for candy. This went on until I was around three. Ever since then I have always been called
Candy.

In Samoa names usually have some
sort of significance. For example my
dad’s name is Fata, he is named after his father Fata who was named after his
father, Fata. Fata has been the name of
the eldest son in my dad’s family for the last five generations. Then there was a girl I went to school with
at Leifiifi College; she was named Anzac Day because she was born on ANZAC Day. Names are really important in the Samoan
culture, particularly your last name because it is through your family name
that you represent your aiga, your family, siblings, parents and grandparents.

The Palemia family has attended
Samoa College for years and years. Ever
since I started school my dad had always told me that I need to study hard and
get good grades so that I can be like him and his siblings and parents and
great grandparents and great great grandparents who all attended Samoa College,
the college where all the smart people go. As hard as I studied and listened in all of my
classes I just didn’t get the grades that would give me a place or an award in
any of my year levels. Even with my less
than great grades, my dad still had the expectation that I would follow in his
footsteps and attend Samoa College. When
my results came in telling me what school I got into I was not at all surprised
that I didn’t get into Samoa College, heck I didn’t even get into Avele College
that was how bad my grades were.
Needless to say I heard the whole spiel from my dad, “you are a
disappointment to our family. You are
the first person in our family since the beginning of time who will not be
attending Samoa College. Do you realize
the shame that you have brought to our family?
How could you do this to us?” The
burden of being a Palemia felt heavy on my shoulders, especially being an only
child, as I tried to live with the fact that I had failed my family and killed
my father’s dream of having a child follow in his educational path. Who could have imagined the weight one would
feel from trying to live up to a family name.

All my life we moved back and
forth between Samoa and Australia. Mum’s
a palagi from Australia and would always get homesick so we’d move between our
house in Holsworthy in Sydney and my dad’s family house in Vaivase Uta. We moved to Sydney again half way through
year 10 in high school. I went to All
Saints Catholic School. You would not believe the teasing the kids
were capable of, especially over a name.
Our science teacher’s name was Mr Cox.
As you can imagine the minds of sex crazed teenagers, who had nothing
else on their minds but that three lettered word, made vulgar remarks about our
teacher’s name. One day in science class
while Mr Cox was at the whiteboard one boy yelled ‘Dick’ from the back of the
room. Mr Cox turned around and asked who
said it, no one confessed so Mr Cox said the whole class would be on
detention. He turned around to write on
the board and a different boy yelled out ‘Willy’, this time Mr Cox ignored the
yelling. That is when it got worse,
students all around the room started yelling out different words for the male
reproductive organ. By this time Mr Cox
had turned around but as hard as he tried he couldn’t regain control of the
class. The yelling went on for what
seemed like half an hour, with loud laughter mixed in. On the outside Mr Cox looked like a strong
man. At close to six feet tall he towered
over all of us, he purposely wore tight t-shirts to show off the muscles that
lay hidden beneath cotton. Yet even with
the stature of a warrior the name calling of ego driven teenagers brought him
to tears and pushed him to flee for serenity into the class storeroom.

This was a complete culture shock
to my days at Leifiifi College where speaking out of turn was considered
disrespectful and not tolerated by any teachers let alone the students. I sat like a stunned mullet in my chair still
trying to process what had just happened.
How could they do that? Do they
not know the shame that it will bring to their families when they find out
about what they had done?

It was my third week at school
and I was finding it a little hard fitting in.
I found that I didn’t do things the way the other kids did, I didn’t
think the same way they did. I looked
like I would fit in with my green eyes and straight chestnut hair flowing down
past my olive skinned shoulders, I could have been palagi or Greek or
Italian. The only thing that gave me
away was my last name and slight Samoan accent.
So when I was befriended by Kayla I was a little apprehensive as to why
the hot popular girl was trying to be my friend. Kayla and her friends invited me to hang with
them at ‘the spot’ a concrete area behind the toilet block and across from the
canteen for easy access to food. It was
so much fun we shared food and talked about teachers and the other kids. Some of them would then go to the lower oval
and smoke; too scared to try I just tagged along for fun while wondering what
was so good about smoking. I mean
seriously it stunk and made you smell like a chimney no matter how much
deodorant you spray on your clothes to cover it up.

I was becoming a little lonely
and homesick, noticing how much I missed my friends from Leifiifi and how we
would joke and share thoughts on everything together. What I missed most was speaking in
Samoan. I may not look Samoan, but it is
my first language and the one that I am most comfortable with. Kayla was such a cool person, which helped me
a little. She was more than just pretty
and popular; she was actually smart and cared about her education and her
future, which was good for me because my grades were pretty atrocious. We
became pretty close, I was comfortable enough with her that I was able to
confide in her some of my feelings that I didn’t think I would be able to say
to anyone here, like the fact that I thought David liked me because he keeps
texting me, but I never gave him my number or that I think Pooja has ukus cause
she is always scratching her head and I actually saw something crawling around
her hairline near her right ear. Kayla
was great about it too affirming my thoughts that a boy actually liked me and
that she too had seen the same creepy crawlies in Pooja’s hair.

It became almost a ritual where
every Friday night for the last two months I would finish school, walk to my
house and get my stuff then I would go to Kayla’s place to sleep over. This Friday was just like the others but what
happened that night changed everything.
Kayla and I lay in our boxers and singlet on mattresses we had moved
from the beds to the floor. Kayla has a
big room with a massive 52 inch plasma TV on her wall so we usually eat chips,
chocolate, ice cream any kind of junk food you can think of and watch TV series
like One Tree Hill, Revenge and Gossip Girl.

We lay side by side on the
mattresses watching Glee repeats from the second season, you can never have
enough Glee! It was the Britney Spears episode
and Britney and Santana were performing the ‘Me against the Music’ song. I turned to tell Kayla that I thought Britney
looked hot and that I wished my dentist looked like John Stamos. Before I could get a word out I felt the rose
petal soft lips of beautiful Kayla against mine. While I was shocked and a little freaked out
I actually enjoyed it. I could taste Kayla’s
bubblegum flavoured lip gloss mixed with the Doritos that she was just eating. We separated and there was a moment of
awkward silence. I sat up and kept
looking everywhere else but at Kayla.
Shivers ran down my spine as Kayla gently placed her delicate kisses
down my neck. My mind was screaming ‘stop,
wait, what’s happening?’ but my body was just screaming in ecstasy. I battled with the thoughts of what would
happen if my family found out and whether or not I was gay the rest of the
night which was filled with amazing kisses, cuddles, laughs and food.

The next morning I had to wake up
early cause mum wanted me to come home and help clean out our garage. I got up and changed and woke Kayla up to say
good bye. We didn’t have time to talk
about what had happened the night before it was just a quick kiss and a promise
to text later. I kept my phone by my
side the whole time waiting for a text from Kayla, but nothing. Later that night I even sent a blank text because
I wanted to hear from her, but I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t get a text, a facebook comment or
even a phone call from Kayla all weekend long.
I was stressing out by Sunday night, stalking her facebook page to see
if she had been online and said anything but no activity at all. I was positive that she was avoiding me and
that something was wrong, I mean there was no other explanation that made sense
after what we shared on Friday night.

Almost shaking with nerves I
walked into the school building Monday morning.
I didn’t know how I should act, do I ask Kayla why she was ignoring me
or do I just act like nothing happened.
I didn’t have to make any decisions because Kayla made the first move. As I walked to my locker there she was her
long, dark Kim Kardashian styled hair lightly framing her fair skinned face. The blue of the school uniform jumper made
her azure eyes leap out and hypnotise you with their beauty. She was truly magnificent leaning against her
locker. Kayla’s locker was two lockers
away from mine as she went to close the locker her striking blue eyes met mine. There was no emotion on her face; it was as
if she looked right through me. After
closing her locker she walked straight past me no hello, no head nod it was as
if she didn’t even know I was there.

I was confused, angry and sad all
at once; angrier than anything else which for some reason made me want to ball
my eyes out. I ran to the bathroom
locked myself in the toilet stall and cried.
I let it all out and cried till I could cry no more. I started with the loud drool and snotty sob
crying while yelling curses at Kayla in my mind. Then came the angry crying; with fist punches
to the walls, berating myself for being so stupid for thinking that Kayla was
my friend. Seriously how could someone like her want to be friends with
you? Followed by the hysterical laughing
cry where memories of how good things were made you smile but brought that
stinging pain that you had to crack up in laughter only to have the river of
tears follow. I spent the whole morning
in the toilet crying. When I thought
that I had my tears under control I gathered the strength to escape to the sick
bay with the hopes they will call my parents to come and get me.

When my mum came to pick me up I
literally ran to her and gave her a big hug with tears welling in my eyes. No matter how hard life is or how much pain
you feel it all feels better with a hug from your mum. Unlike most times there was no line of
interrogation from my mum, just a single question “are you ok?” I just nodded knowing that if I opened my
mouth to speak all I would do was end up crying again. When I got home I went straight to my room
and cried myself to sleep.

After a week of not getting out
of bed and moping around the house my parents had enough. Their patience had worn thin and while trying
to understand what I was going through the fact that I wouldn’t talk to them
about any of my feelings made it hard to know what to do. In the end the ultimatum to go to school or
go to see a psychologist made me get up and go to school. I couldn’t form the words to say how I felt even
if I wanted to tell someone how I was feeling.

School started off fine at first
then after lunch I noticed the snickering behind my back and then there were
the stares as I walked down the hall.
That lurking feeling in the pit of your stomach where you know something
is wrong you just didn’t know what was on the verge of being vomited out when
all of a sudden it made sense.

I picked out the wrinkled piece
of paper from the rubbish bin next to my locker. Mixed into the wrinkles you could make out a girl
in a lacy black bra and matching boy leg style underwear with her left leg
wrapped around a bed post her back arched down toward the ground with her hair
hanging in the air. I didn’t recognize
that the photo was of me, what caught my eye was the wording on the side which
said “For a Good Time Call Candy 1-800-STRIPPER.”

I have had a bit of a complex
with my nick name Candy, I know how I got it and was proud of the origin story
but the complex stemmed from its association with strippers and prostitutes,
but no one has ever said anything to my face or even behind my back. The only person with whom I had shared this
fear with was Kayla. With this new found
knowledge I took a closer look at the photo and realized that it was me on a
Friday night at Kayla’s house after we had just watched some Pussy Cat Dolls
music videos and we were messing around and pretending to dance like they
did. We had promised each other that we
would delete the photos and they would never see the light of day, but
obviously she had lied again.

The world went black. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t feel; my life
just took a very dark turn and there was no way of changing it. My books fell to the ground and I just
walked. I didn’t know where I was going
I just knew that I needed to get away from school, from her, from
everything. I couldn’t even register my
exact feelings. I couldn’t cry I
couldn’t get angry and throw things or yell or shout I was numb and felt lost
in a far off place. My legs just kept
moving I didn’t even realize that I was walking till I heard the loud sound of
a horn and I looked up to see the car followed by the screeching of the car
tyres braking hard against the road then everything went quiet.

My eyes blinked trying to adjust
to the light. Once they were able to
focus I looked around and didn’t recognize where I was and couldn’t remember
what I was doing before the quiet and darkness had set in. Things were still a little fuzzy and my body
ached all over. Then I saw mum sitting
in the chair in the corner.

“muuum,” I managed to whisper because
speaking felt so alien to me. Mum got up
straight away and was by my side in a flash and began planting kisses all over
my face.

“Are you ok baby? How do you feel? Are you hungry? Do you need anything?” The barrage of questions continued for what
seemed like years till she managed to take a breath and I saw my opportunity to
speak.

“What happened? Where am I?”
She pulled the chair next to the bed and sat down.

“You are in the hospital baby
girl. There was an accident and you were
hit by a car. You were very lucky that
the car wasn’t travelling fast. You
walked away with only a broken leg a few scratches and a lot of bruises.”

“But how did I get on the
road? I was at school, I don’t
understand?”

“We don’t know either. Has something been happening at school? Because the last week you have been moping
around the house then when you finally get up and go to school you end up
getting run over by a car on the main road at least 10km away from your
school. You know you can talk to me
Candy, I’m your mum and I am always going to be here for you if you need me.”

That’s when the tears
flowed. I wanted to get up and give her
a massive hug but any kind of movement no matter how small made me wince in
pain. I let everything out and with each
word uttered and tear shed I felt the longed for feelings of peace set in.

I could tell by mum’s facial
expressions that she was not impressed by certain things that I had to say and
had some questions but she didn’t interrupt, she just listened and cried along
with me. When I was finished she
reassured me that it would all be ok and that’s when the police came in.

According to Senior Constable
Fitzsimmons there were several reports that I had walked dangerously throughout
the area and while many people had tried to caution me I had just continued and
walked directly into the road where the car hit me. Senior Constable Fitzsimmons then told us, “A
law that was recently introduced makes it mandatory in situations where people
have tried to harm themselves that they spend at least two weeks in a
counseling facility where they are taught different strategies to deal with
problems as well as helping to deal with old issues. We are here to inform you that once you have
physically recovered you will be required to attend The Fountain Counseling
Facility.”

I’m not crazy, I thought to
myself. Why do I need to go to this
place? This is stupid. Are they serious!? Questions just ran through my head till I
realized the amount of crap the other students will give me when they found
out. Not only will I be a stripper but I
will go down in history as Candy the crazy stripper!

My mum and dad thought it was a
good idea, because they didn’t know how to help me. So a month later when my injuries had healed
I was taken to The Fountain. It looked a
little like a haunted house from the outside.
It was an old two storey white building with dark green windows set on a
hill. There were no neighbors, just a
lot of trees. From my room upstairs you
could see the white waves smashing against the coastline through the trees. From the shared bathroom you could see the
gorgeous green hills rolling behind the facility. It was beautiful, almost as if I were in Samoa
coming down the cross island road towards Apia.
The view alone made me feel like I was going to be ok here, that I had
nothing to worry about.

We started our group therapy
sessions that afternoon. Our counselor
was a guy named Eric; he looked like he was in his late twenties. He was balding so he kept his head shaven, a
stocky awkward looking man with a massive beer gut. Nothing at all to look at, just a cheeky
smile that made you know he had a few stories to tell. The session went really well, Eric took time
to listen to everyone and his humour made you comfortable with sharing how you
felt.

The two weeks went by really
fast. I almost didn’t want to
leave. I learned so much about myself
and how to deal with my feelings. I felt
like I could take on the world. The
biggest thing that I discovered about myself was how much I really wanted to go
back to Samoa. So when I got home I told
my parents that I would like to return to Samoa. Obviously they were worried and sad with my
request, heck my dad even made me cry with his guilt trips, but they knew that
it was what I needed to progress and get better. Some people could say that me going to Samoa
is running away from my problems, I say it is making a choice to free myself of
things that only cause me heartache and pain.
Either way I am happy, my family are happy and to hell with what anyone
else says!

I had been away from Samoa for
almost a year, but it still felt the same. Little things had changed a few new buildings
and different colours on houses but most things remained the same like the
works on the road between Apia and the airport and the beautiful churches that
soared above the houses in the villages.
My excitement just kept growing as we made the drive past Samoa College,
down the winding road that shot up the mountain almost like a roller coaster
ride as we made our way to my home in Vaivase Uta.

While my parents have their own
home in Samoa, there is no way they were about to let their 16 year old
daughter stay by herself. So my Aunt,
Uncle and cousins Eseta, Pena and Leti from Vaisala in Savaii came to stay with
me. While they were a little different
to my own family, me being an only child, I was looking forward to being around
people. With Eseta being 15 and a girl
we automatically clicked. It took a
while to get used to having Pena and Leti in the house though, because I had
never lived with boys before. While they
often grossed me out with their dirty shoes and stinky clothes having them
around was a great experience. They showed
me respect and were examples of how a guy should treat a woman as well as the
loyalty and respect that they showed their sister and parents.

I knew that if I went to school
and a guy tried to pinch my bum as I walked past or say any kind of derogatory
comment I could just tell Pena or Leti and they would sort them out for me. Having brothers was pretty cool, especially
after school when they would go and play rugby on the big field near our house.
Eseta and I could use them as an excuse
to sit and perve, secretly hoping that it would be a hot day and the guys with
six packs would take their tops off.

I loved being back home. There were the usual teenage dramas, but
nothing that compared to the life of a teenager in Australia. One day we had gone down to Lynns for some
fresh bread, I ran in to get it and bumped into someone I never thought that I
would see again, Eric. He still looked
exactly the same; I on the other hand had matured in the two years since we
last saw each other and was ‘popping’ in all the right places. It turns out he is working in Samoa as a
counselor at the Coral Reef Academy, he arrived a month ago and will be here
for another year. He didn’t have a car
so we offered him a ride home to Leufisa.
I gave him my number and said if he needed anything or wanted to come
over for dinner he was most welcome.

The next week Eric started
texting, just the friendly how are you kind of texts. Then I would get bored and texted to see how
he was doing. This went on for about two
weeks then Eric asked if I wanted to have lunch with him and I am never one to
say no to free food so I agreed. He took
me to the Yacht Club where I had the yummy poke followed by the shrimp and then
cake and ice-cream for dessert. We had a
great time, we ate and talked and laughed and ate some more I really enjoyed
it. I remembered how funny he was and
how comfortable I felt sharing my feelings with him. While Eric was never going to be good looking
like Channing Tatum, the way he spoke and how he made me feel special was
sexier than any strip tease Channing could ever do. We continued to text and meet up for lunches
for about a month and then it happened.
We were eating fried chicken in the back tables at Freddy’s in Motootua
and Eric had said something funny and I was laughing then our eyes met and we
went quiet, just stared at each other for what seemed like an hour, I don’t
know what it was but it took my breath away and I just couldn’t move, then he
leant in and softly kissed me. I know I
was enjoying the kiss but my eyes exploded open and I pulled away quickly
realizing where I was and that people might see me.

From then on we started eating
lunches at Eric’s place. Our lunches
lasted longer and our texts were combined with midnight phone calls and
eventually our kisses at lunch led to love making sessions sometimes without
lunch. I knew with every fibre of my
being that I was in love with Eric. He
was my friend and he knew me better than my parents did at this time and I knew
him like I knew the back of my hand. I
was deliriously happy. The only thing
that made me blue was knowing that he would be leaving to go back to Australia
at Christmas. I didn’t like to dwell on
this so I made the most of my time with Eric.
When I wasn’t in school or doing the feaus I was with him, I didn’t even
have time to do my field perve sessions with Eseta. I used the time to do my homework so that I
wouldn’t get punished for falling behind in my school work. It was weird because even though I spent all
this time with Eric my grades had never been better.

A year went on and Eric left
before my school year finished. But I
wasn’t as sad as I would have been if I didn’t know that because of our good
grades my parents paid for me, Pena, Leti and Eseta to come and visit them in
Australia instead of them coming back to Samoa.
I kept it a secret from Eric as I wanted to surprise him when I got to
Sydney. It was really difficult to bring
the waterworks on; even though I would miss him for all of 7 days it was a lot
harder than I thought to hide my smile and joy.

As I parked the car and double
checked the address I started to get nervous but excited and ecstatic at the
same time. Walking up the driveway I
noticed my hands were shaking and I couldn’t stop it. I rang the doorbell and heard the pattering
of little feet followed by some heavier steps near the door. I thought it may be Eric chasing his dog then
the door swung open. I stood there with
my mouth hanging open with a look of confusion and shock on my face. The lady standing in the doorway with a
toddler on her hip breathlessly apologized “sorry I need to catch my breath I
had to chase this little one down the hall to make sure she didn’t open the
door. How can I help you?”

I stood staring at the little
girl with her curly blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, I thought she was so
cute. Still a little confused I said
“Hi, I am looking for Eric? I’m sorry
I’m not sure if I have the right place?”

“You have the right place; Eric
is at work right now.” Then she looked
down at her daughter and tickled her on the side saying “we are waiting for
daddy aren’t we honey!”

I felt sick. I didn’t want to believe it but when the
little girl smiled her cheeky little smile there is no way that I could deny
that was his daughter.

The lady must have seen my
reaction because she asked if I was ok.
I couldn’t answer, my brain just wouldn’t work. She must have started to get suspicious
because her tone changed from a welcoming and friendly one to a more irritated
one as she asked if she could help me.
Then I felt it, my mouth filled with saliva and before I knew it I was
hurling my McDonalds breakfast at this woman’s feet. At that point all my previous feelings were replaced
with shame and embarrassment. I
apologized profusely and offered to clean it all up. The mother in her came out as she quickly
gathered me inside and hosed down and disinfected the front entrance while I
cleaned up and put on one of her t-shirts.

She sat me down at the table and
offered me a drink. She sat opposite me
and introduced herself. “My name is Lucy,
Eric is my fiancé. Who are you?”

At this point I was over feeling
sorry for myself and began feeling like a trashy home wrecking whore. Lucy is a lovely woman who has already shown
me great kindness and she doesn’t even know my name. How do I now tell her that her fiancé was
cheating on her with me? When I didn’t say
anything Lucy began talking again.

“I know that this may sound weird
but you are not the first girl to show up at my house. It may be easier if you begin with your name
and how you know Eric.”

OMG can this woman be any nicer I
thought to myself, and the fact that she is so calm just made me angry that
Eric could be such a big fat pig!

I sat and explained the situation
to Lucy. She then went on to tell me
that she has been with Eric for the last five years. He had changed when their daughter Laura was
born. His trip to Samoa was a break for
them to see whether or not they wanted to truly be together. The fact that he came back to Lucy showed
that he wanted to make the commitment to the relationship and to being a father
to Laura. Lucy had no idea that I
existed and that he had not changed.

While I was completely devastated
that I had been used and discarded like a piece of toilet paper it is weird
because it is the same techniques that Eric taught me at The Fountain that
helped me to deal with my feelings and to not fall into depression.

I went home and instead of holding my feelings in I
disregarded my shame and fear of how my parents would react to my being so
reckless and told them the whole story, every single detail. My mum being palagi was very understanding,
as I knew she would be, but my dad’s reaction was far from the raging I had
imagined. He calmly expressed his
gratitude for me being able to share my situation with them and imparted his
great disappointment in my actions and deception. I could see and feel the pain in his eyes and
it hurt so much more than any beating or yelling he could have done. But I learned my lesson and there was no way
that I was going to put myself in a situation where I would cause so much pain
and heartache to my family, because they are the ones who are there for me no
matter what; not the backstabbing pretty girl who pretended to be my friend or
the lying cheating pig who professed his love for me.

Later that night there was a knock on the door. Leti answered and I heard his voice, it was
Eric. Leti called for Pena. I love my brothers and knew their love for me
was great, but being in Australia it didn’t dawn on me that they would show
that love the same way that they would in Samoa. Before I could register what was happening I
heard the thuds of Leti and Pena’s fists as they pummeled Eric’s face followed
by a crash as Eric fell back into the pot plants. Before I could make my way to the front door
I could hear Eseta egging them on “Kui le guku.
Kiki oga fua.”

“Stop! Ua lava ga!” I
yelled at them as I gave Eseta the evil eye.

As much as I hated Eric, as he lay there blood pouring from
his face I only felt pity for him. Not
pity because he was hurt, a little part of me was happy to see all the
blood. Pity because he had everything; a
great reputation as a counselor, a beautiful and kind woman who loved him and
the most gorgeous child and yet he still didn’t know their value.

I helped Eric to his feet.
He tried to apologise but after mumbling a few ums and ahs I firmly said
“leave! I don’t want to hear your lame
apology. I don’t want anything to do
with you. You disgust me and I can’t
believe you had the nerve to be such a horrible human being to such a good
woman and worst of all, your own daughter.
I am not the person you should be groveling to. Leave my house and never speak to me again!”

I turned, walked inside the house and closed the door
leaving him standing in my front yard.

Six weeks passed fast and our
trip was coming to an end and Eric didn’t come to mind as often now. The boys, Eseta and I thought it would be good
to go out to a night club before we head back to Samoa. I was 20 and legally able to go out and drink
in Australia, but I have lived in Samoa most my life and there is no way in
hell I would be going to a club there.
So I was a little nervous but convinced that this was something I needed.
Eseta and I put on our pretty dresses
and the boys borrowed some of my dad’s dress shoes because all they had were
their thongs and we heard that there were pretty strict dress codes in
Australia.

We got inside Arq and robotically
looked around not knowing what to do next.
Then I saw the bar and did an awkward head down fast walk, almost a run
straight there, the others just followed me.
The bartender came up and stood in front of me. I stood there staring back not knowing what
to order then the song rum and redbull came on and that was what I ordered for
all of us. The bartender chuckled a
little then turned away and prepared our drinks. It was disgusting! But the bartender was staring at me so I had
to pretend that it was ok. I turned my
head so the bartender couldn’t see me make my ‘gosh that’s gross’ face.

I could see Pena and Leti talking
and looking toward the dance floor. In
the middle of the dance floor there were girls dancing. One girl had a gorgeous blue ruffle dress
with red heels and legs that went on for miles.
With my drink in my hand I turned around in my seat to face the dance
floor so I could watch them dancing. I
was distracted and forgot that I didn’t like my drink and took another sip and
my face skewed into the ugliest formation possible just as the woman in the
blue dress turned around. Then my drink
slipped out of my hand and shattered on the floor.

The whole reason I even met Eric
was standing just as gorgeous as ever less than 10 meters away from me. I quickly turned around to face the bar
hoping that Kayla hadn’t seen me or recognized me. It just wasn’t my day, as quickly as I had
turned she had just as quickly made her way to the bar next to me.

“Candy, is that you?”

Her voice was just as lyrical as
I remembered. Why couldn’t she sound
like a frog and lost her teeth and begun a reverse Benjamin Button and gotten
really old fast? I asked myself. I
couldn’t bring myself to talk to her I was just so full of emotions and I really
didn’t want to bawl my eyes out in a public place.

“You look great Candy.”

I tried to act like nothing was
wrong but the stares of Eseta, Pena and Leti made me even more uncomfortable. But Kayla just kept going as if she didn’t
notice my reaction.

“I know that what I did was
unforgivable and I know that it hurt you a lot.
I’m sorry. I don’t want to make
excuses but I was young and I was scared; scared that you didn’t like me,
scared that my family wouldn’t approve, scared of what the other kids would say
if they found out. I was a scared and
immature girl and I know that doesn’t change the fact that I hurt you but I
want you to know that I have thought about you every day since and I am so
ashamed of my behavior.”

Tears began to fall down Kayla’s
cheeks and it felt good to see her cry.
Almost as if each tear she shed was me getting revenge for the pain that
I had felt. It is kind of true that time
heals all wounds, because it wasn’t until she had reminded me of the ordeal I
faced at her hands that all the aguish came back to me, but it lasted for only
a short while. Because I had forgiven
her and moved on and seeing her cry no longer brought me joy but sorrow, sorrow
for her and knowing that she has had to hold on to this for so long. I turned around and hugged Kayla and wiped
away her tears.

“Thank you for that Kayla. I have forgiven you and wish only the best
for you.” I kissed her on the forehead grabbed
my cousins and we danced. As we danced I
remembered the good times Kayla and I shared and the love that I felt for my
family and I was happy again.

Kayla had come out to her parents
in her last year of high school. She had had the courage to be the person who
made her happy even if it meant that her parents disowned her and she brought
shame to her family. Kayla told of how
once she came out she lost the people she thought were her closest
friends. Kayla introduced me to her
partner Eve and was so excited that they were expecting their first child
together. As I rubbed Eve’s pregnant belly
I could see that my cousins were a little angry at me as they wanted to find
themselves a nice palagi but when choosing the club I didn’t realize it was a
gay one. As much as I wanted to stay and
talk with Kayla I knew that Pena and Leti would not be able to handle the
attention of the males so I said good bye and exchanged email addresses and
left.

My cousins didn’t find a palagi on
our trip to Australia, but I found myself.

“My name is Candice Palemia, but
people call me Candy. I am a beautiful
young woman, stronger than I think I am, and loved by those who matter.”

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

My son was
schooled in Samoa from preschool up until year four. In Primary School his teachers had always
said that my son was uncontrollable and wouldn’t concentrate. His favourite thing to talk about at school
in Samoa was lunch time. When I asked
what he learned at school his response was always “I don’t know”. He did not excel in school and I thought that
he may just be a late bloomer. At the
end of year four my son still couldn’t read.
My son cried often when he had to go to school.

My son began
going to school in Australia this year.
In a recent parent teacher interview his teacher said that he was a well
mannered child and with the right amount of individual attention he will be able
to read quickly. My son loves school and
goes willingly and talks about his sports classes in the gym, reading books in
class and choir. It is nearing the end
of the first term and my son has received a certificate for spelling as well as
choir.

How is it
that there are two completely different pictures of my son with his behavior,
his learning ability and his outlook on school in less than three months?

One of the
biggest differences that I have noticed is the size of classes. While in Samoa my son always had more than 50
students in his class, whereas his new class has only 19 students.

Overcrowding
of classrooms is an Occupational, Health and Safety hazard for teachers. The added stress of having to not only
control 50 plus students but to try and teach each one is definitely not an
inviting working environment. There is a
teacher’s association in place here in Samoa, what are they doing to ensure
that the working conditions for their teachers are conducive to them being able
to do their jobs well? If other
countries have gone on strike for having 34 students in their classrooms surely
there is something our teachers can do to ask for a less stressful working
environment.

Each child
is an individual and has their own way of learning as well as social
circumstances or learning disabilities which may inhibit them from
learning. While we do not expect a
teacher to be a social worker we do expect them to take the time to get to know
each child, what their learning strengths and weaknesses are and teach the
students in a manner that is best suited for them. We cannot expect teachers to be able to do
their jobs well if they have to deal with 50 plus students.

Overcrowding
classrooms defeats the purpose of trying to educate our children. We cannot expect our children to learn to the
best of their ability when they have to compete with 50 other students for the
attention of their teacher. Locking
tardy students out of school is one way of cutting down class sizes, but what
else are the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture doing to address this
issue?

While
overcrowding of classrooms is not the sole problem for our education system
woes, it certainly is a contributing factor.
It also brings about the question of how many other students fell
between the cracks because there were too many students in their classroom?

Sunday, 17 March 2013

* The Samoan version was published in the Iniini Samoa Newspaper, here is the English version :)

After the
2009 Tsunami I was involved in the rebuilding efforts through assisting Habitat
for Humanity. Through my role I became
aware that the victims were given a choice of either receiving $18,000 in
financial assistance or to have a house built for them through Habitat for
Humanity and funded by Digicel, Caritas and the Government of Samoa. I thought this was a great initiative.

I am
saddened when I hear that the same gesture was not given to the many victims of
Cyclone Evan. Yes it is understood that
there are stipulations placed upon funds received by others in response to this
disaster. Usually these stipulations
include what sectors they would like the money to be used for. For example AusAID donated money to go
towards the rebuilding of schools; others may have donated and asked for it to
be used towards restoring water or electricity.
I do not believe that part of these stipulations included making money
from the victims who have already lost so much by having them apply for loans
and repay extra money on top of the loan repayment.

The Disaster
Management Office has completed their assessments of those who are in
need. Would it not make sense to give
the money that has been housed with Samoa Housing Corporation to those people
rather than have them take out a loan that only puts them at a further
disadvantage? When you think about it 4
million tala is a massive amount of money.
Working in the water sector I know that 4 million tala is equivalent to
upgrading more than 10 water schemes so I can see that it would be of great
benefit to the victims of the cyclone who have lost so much.

According to
the 2011 census Samoa has 187,820 persons. Not all of
Samoa was greatly affected by the cyclone so it is not necessary to give the
aid to everyone. The Government of Samoa
Press Secretariat released a table on January 16 stating the Villages and
Families supplied by NEOC during Cyclone Evan.
This table identified that 2385 families received assistance from NEOC. If we divided the 4 million tala among these
people each family would receive 1677 tala.
Yes this is not a huge amount of money, but not as much aid was given
for the cyclone so we cannot expect the same relief as was given during the
tsunami. However, I feel that the
precedence was set with the tsunami and so the same should be done with the
cyclone. I do not see how making victims
of Cyclone Evan struggle even more by repaying a loan funded by relief aid is
consistent with why disaster relief was given.

It is
understandable that not as much aid has come in after the cyclone, this is
beyond our control. But Samoa was not
totally devastated and we are still able to do so much with what we have. If we as a country commit ourselves to back
our local businesses by purchasing locally made food and produce and other
goods and services that keep our money here in Samoa we will be helping each
other to get back on our feet.

Government
could offer tax deductions on any money that is donated to local charities
giving people more incentive to give.

My son’s
favourite saying, particularly when I am eating chocolate is ‘sharing is
caring’. We all have our own burdens and
not everyone knows another person’s circumstances but if we all make an effort
to share whatever we may have be it a chainsaw to help remove trees so that
land can be used for planting, or our time in helping to remove such debris
from land we as a country will recover so much faster and so much stronger.

Monday, 11 March 2013

A recent discussion with a friend regarding the responses of
NUS students who were asked if they felt it was alright to hit women, brought
sadness to my heart. What I found sad
was that the majority, including the female students, said that it was appropriate
in certain circumstances to physically hit a woman. What saddened me more was that we adults have
taught this to our children, it is our fault!

When a father lays his hand on his wife in front of his
children, he is showing them how to treat women. When a woman stays in such an abusive
situation and does not take action to stop it, she is showing her children that
it is ok to have a man lay his hands on her so disrespectfully. When friends and family witness such violence
and do nothing to stop it, they are condoning the abuse of women.

Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, said “Laws alone
are not enough. We must educate to shape
new norms and behaviors…To empower women and ensure equality; we must challenge
every form of violence every time it occurs.”

An example of where laws are not enough is when a husband
comes home drunk and physically abuses his wife in front of their son and
daughter, her mother and a house girl.
The police did not respond to the call for help and the neighbors did
not provide any assistance either. He
did not spend any time in jail and charges were not even made. This example shows that while the laws are in
place they are worth nothing if women don’t follow through on charges. This example also shows that we are not caring
enough of our neighbors to help each other.

Violence is not just physical. There is sexual, psychological and economic
violence all of which are a violation of fundamental rights and human dignity.

The increase of sexual abuse of women and young girls in
Samoa is heart breaking, particularly in cases where these acts of violence are
at the hand of their spouses, fathers and other family members. The fact that these cases are often hushed
and swept under the mat are a major factor as to why they continue and why young
boys think it is acceptable behavior when they are older. Surely saving the name of a family is not as
important as the well being of a precious young girl or a beloved mother and
daughter.

Calling names and belittling a woman to the point where she
has no self confidence to do anything is a form of psychological violence. Making a person feel small just to make you
feel better about yourself is one of the most cowardice things a person can do. This is because it can be done behind closed
doors and there are no physical marks to show the abuse, but the deterioration
of a person’s self worth and soul can be far worse than physical abuse.

Economic violence is not one that is well publicized and yet
it exists here in Samoa. An example of
economic violence is advertising a job opportunity and encouraging women to
apply when the organization already have in mind that a male counterpart is
preferred resulting in wasted time and money for female candidates who are
shortlisted and interviewed. The
inequality of pay for women and men is also an example of economic violence.

March 8, 2013 is International Women’s Day and the theme is
“A promise is a promise: time for action to end violence against women.” Ending violence against women is something
that everyone needs to do and can do. We
need to challenge each and every form of violence in order for it to end. We as a country have made the promise to end
the violence now is the time for action, what will you do to end violence
against women?

Sunday, 10 March 2013

So it has been a while since I last blogged, which isn't that new life has so many things that keep us all busy. One thing that has kept me busy is a new column that I have been writing for the newest newspaper in Samoa, the Iniini Newspaper. Because the Iniini is not yet available online I am able to blog my column pieces here. So I hope you enjoy :)

Let Peace Reign

By Morwenna Petaia

February 23, 2013 marked the 108th anniversary of
the first Rotary Club in Chicago. Rotary
International is a service club formed to mirror the same friendly spirit Paul
Harris, one of the founders, felt in his youth.

Today Rotary has 1.2 million members and 33,000 clubs in
over 200 countries. Samoa has a Rotary
club as well as a Rotaract club. The
Rotaract Club is a partner club of Rotary that is aimed at people between 18
and 30 years of age. The aim of the
Rotaract Club is to “make a difference through charity work in Samoa and the
Pacific Region.”

In an effort to celebrate the anniversary of Rotary, the
Rotaract Club of Apia performed a peace dance at the SNPF plaza as a part of
the Rock n Rotary: End Polio, Build Peace celebrations.

The Apia Rotaract President, Lealaiauloto Billy Chan Ting,
said Rotaract clubs around the Pacific and north New Zealand held similar peace
dances with the intention that they would all be collated to form the World’s
biggest commercial on eradicating Polio.
Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal disease affecting mainly
children under 5 years. While Polio may
not be as prevalent here in Samoa in comparison to other countries, this did
not stop the Rotaract Club of Samoa in supporting the efforts in trying to
eradicate the disease in other locations.

Naomi Fuamatu, a Rotaract member stated “Rotaract is about
‘service above self’ and we are committed to making the small changes in our
community through our service projects – when you see the needs/ challenges
within your community, it makes your ‘issues’ in life seem small.”

We often feel that as individuals we cannot make a
difference to the world, that the world’s problems are all greater than we can
overcome. The Rotary Club and its
worldwide success in helping people all over the world are an example of how
each of us can make a difference. If it
were not for the founders of Rotary the millions of people around the world who
provide services to those who are in need would not be here.

If each of us in Samoa were to serve one another we would
not need all the foreign aid, the casinos and the added social problems that
accompany them, there would be no children walking the streets and families
starving. We need to stop looking at what
we can get from everywhere else and look at what we as a country can do for
ourselves and for each other first.
Through service to others we will have no wars, no people in need
because our selfish desires would not be there.
Another Rotaract member, Jonathan Porter, summed it up eloquently when
he said “it is always a privilege to volunteer.” We shouldn’t see helping other people as a
faalavelave or a burden; it is a privilege to be of service to our fellow people. Let each of us take the lead of the Rotarians
and let peace reign.

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

There are some great new initiatives being implemented by new CEO's in various ministries here in Samoa. Some of them I have found were pretty good and am quite interested in seeing how they pan out. One particular initiative that I find a little contradictory is where all students at Government schools will be sent home if they arrive at school after 9:30 am. Ok, I see that this is trying to curb tardiness at school but at the same time it is giving students a reason to be late. If I were in high school and didn't want to got to school all I would have to do is hang around at the bus stop until 9:30 then rock up to school and get sent home and have a reason as to why I am not at school.

Obviously that is the devious rascal side of me that no other teenager would ever dare think of doing. But teenagers these days have a lot of responsibilities at home and if they have a legitimate reason like taking a parent to the hospital or the dentist surely they should not be penalized for showing up to school late and wanting to learn.

The whole point of having free schooling for primary and secondary students in Samoa is to encourage them to get out and get an education so that they are able to make a better living and increase the standards of living for themselves and their families.

Tardiness is but a minute issue when it comes to getting our students into schools. Perhaps the introduction of truancy officers whose sole responsibility is to police the streets and bringing students who are purposely skipping school to their respective schools would be more helpful?

Again people always see the faults in new initiatives and sometimes need to just hold back on giving criticism to see where it may take us, but I feel in this case there really is no point to it. If a child is late put them on detention, don't give them a reason to skip school.

Sunday, 27 January 2013

I just returned from a trip to Australia to visit my family
over the holidays. I had a wonderful
time with them which included seeing beautiful sights, eating or more like over
eating the delicious food, fun, sun and laughter. The trip however was greatly soured as we
attempted to fly home.

My son is an Australian citizen and holds a temporary
resident visa for Samoa. This enables
him to stay in Samoa until the visa expires in 2015. I went to great lengths before we left to
make sure that this stamp was valid and in his passport. I was confident that there would be no
problems when we went to the Melbourne Airport to check in with Virgin
Australia. Oh how I was wrong!

The Australian Passport website says that “Australian Passports
are valid for travel into and out of Australia regardless of the length of
remaining validity…Be
aware that different countries have different passport validity requirements
for permitting entry. If your passport has inadequate validity, you may be refused
entry or not be allowed to board your aircraft or ship in the first place.”

My
son’s passport expires in June 2013 and our flight was in January 2013, in my
mind that is six months validity and fitted within the six month
requirement. However the guest service
agent and supervisor counted from February which in their minds made the
validity only five months. So Virgin
Australia refused to check my son in even though they had already checked me
and my bag in. While I know that Virgin
were well within their rights to do so, surely the resident visa and the fact
that he has lived in Samoa for seven out of his nine years of life showed that
Samoa would let my son into the country.
What is the point of making sure that we have all the correct
information in place if the airline can just decide whatever they feel like
suits them?

The
guest service agent was extremely polite and very helpful changing the flight
to the next week so that we could organize a new passport, also making the
necessary notes so that if another change was required it would be free of
charge. The process of getting a new
passport sounds like a simple and easy procedure, but this is not the
case. Australian passports for children
require consent of both parents. I
completely understand the reasoning for this and think it is a reasonable
safety precaution. However, when
parents are divorced and live in two different countries on opposite sides of
the world the process becomes that much more difficult.

While I
have not taken legal action to gain sole custody of my son, my mother did. I remember when I was younger and needed a
passport my mother still needed my father’s consent, even though at the time he
had almost no contact with me and I was travelling to the country where he
resided. In my opinion surely the legal
documentation would mean that the other parent doesn’t need to give
consent.

The
other requirement is that if overseas the signing of the consent needs to be
sighted by an employee of an Australian consulate or embassy. My son’s father lives in Utah and the closest
Australian office is in California. With
the timing being over Christmas, finances are tight and a return flight is very
costly. Already being a week late for work
we decided that it best to leave my nine year old son with my sister as school
begins shortly and the passport may take longer than we had hoped and also
resulted in my son losing his place at a private school in Samoa.

I
understand the reasons for having laws in place. I know that everyone was just doing their
jobs. I could also have been more
proactive in making sure that the passport was MORE than six months in
validity. In spite of this it just feels
like the humanity factor of life and making decisions is discarded because of
these laws resulting in young children bawling their eyes out because they have
to be separated from their parent for a long period of time, people missing
work and extra stress on finances.

You
would think that my woes with passports and Virgin Australia would end there,
but it keeps getting better.

After
finding a family member who could bring my son back to Samoa once his passport
is renewed, I endeavored to call the Guest contact Centre of Virgin Australia
to change my son’s booking. I was on
hold for 30 minutes when my call was initially answered. Apparently I was directed to the wrong
division and my call was transferred.
Three and a half hours later my call was answered. The service person was a lovely woman, very
friendly and eager to help. However,
after being on hold for over three hours the last thing I wanted to do was
discuss how long I had been waiting for or how long her previous customer had
waited.

Virgin
Australia had just introduced a new booking system and this was the reason for
the delay. After speaking with the
customer service officer we were finalizing the changes when my over four hour
phone call got cut off. I was not about
to call back and instead decided to contact Virgin through their facebook
page. My message stated the situation
and my displeasure with their service even asking for compensation for the four
and a half hour phone call which would cost around AUD$243.40 as it was made
from a mobile phone, the only phone available to me. When I received the follow up phone call clarifications
and apologies were received with no mention of compensation. I am thankful that the changes were made but
if a huge multinational airline changes a system surely they will foresee that
there will be waiting times and prepare for compensation for waiting. Having to wait on the telephone for four
hours would never happen in Samoa; we would be hung up on or passed around to
several people before being hung up on.
How can we expect our developing country to improve when this is the
kind of example our so called ‘developed countries’ are showing us?

You
would think that nothing else could go wrong at this stage but my flying
frustrations continue! I made my way
back to the airport knowing I had my exemption stamp, fully valid passport and
confirmed booking. I am accustomed to
the Guest Service Agent checking the exemption stamp and getting their
supervisor’s approval, I had just gone through the process the week before when
I was checked in and ready to go.
However, this time the supervisor requested documentation of my Samoan
citizenship stating that the exemption stamp was not proof of this because it
says “holder has unrestricted rights to enter and remain in Samoa whilst Samoan
citizenship remains valid.” Her
interpretation of this statement was that documentation of validity of
citizenship was necessary before she would check me in. Her reasoning being that the airline would be
fined should the stamp not be valid.
Their attempts to call the Samoan Immigration were unsuccessful as it
was already after 7pm in Samoa. I had to
call the Samoan Embassy in Canberra from my personal phone and one of the
embassy staff then had to email the Guest Service Agent to say the exemption
stamp is proof of my citizenship and to allow me on the plane. After my many great experiences with Virgin
at this stage I was on the verge of tears and the pure arrogance of the
supervisor made it very difficult to stay civil and hold back the barrage of
unkind words that wanted to be set free.
The supervisor very matter of fact said that it was not their
responsibility to make sure that I had the correct documentation, and I agree
it isn’t. But I had all the correct
documentation; surely it is their responsibility to ensure that they are
familiar with the various visas and exemption stamps so that they know what
they mean and the reason for having them.
How is it that they could check me in the week before with the same
documentation and were giving me such difficulty this time?

I do
agree that the exemption stamp itself could be made clearer in its
wording. Perhaps including the words
exemption stamp and changing the wording or adding a validity date would be
helpful.

I also
see this as an opportunity for the Samoa Immigration office to introduce an
after hour’s line for emergencies such as this.

I am so
thankful for the Samoan Embassy in Canberra and the extra effort they took in
ensuring I was able to board my flight.

Our
National airline is an affiliate of Virgin Australia and even partially shares
a name. If we want our national carrier
to do well we need to ensure that the Virgin brand is satisfactorily meeting
our expectations. If people are
displeased with Virgin airline services whether in Australia or New Zealand it
will affect Virgin Samoa and its ability to prosper. If this could happen to me it could also
happen to others.

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

So, as I told you all yesterday I am no longer a columnist, but I wrote two perfectly good columns so will be sharing them here on my blog. I hope you like them :)

Things I’ve learned
from Evan

By Morwenna Petaia

It has been almost a month since Cyclone Evan brought his
widespread fury and wrath to Samoa.
While the rebuilding and recovery stage of our lives is still upon us
Evan has taught us each lessons that we can use so that when the next disaster
happens we are better prepared and even more resilient.

Heed the Warnings – While I feel for all those who lost
lives and belongings, I do not agree that you should place blame on authorities
for untimely warnings. I feel that there
was ample time given to all regarding the cyclone and also the need to move
away from low lying areas that are prone to flooding. In fact I was a little surprised when I was
purchasing canned foods, water and gas, when the first warnings were issued on
Wednesday, that there were not more people making preparations. Yes my main reason for the preparations was
that I knew I had used up all the gas and food knowing that in a few days I was
Australia bound so our cupboards were literally bare, but I am so grateful that
I did heed the warning. This was my
first cyclone so when I heard the warning I jumped and did whatever I could to
prepare because even if the cyclone didn't come I know that the peace of mind
that I will not have to line up for food and rush around gathering family and
belongings is worth so much more than the thought that I could have starved,
been hurt or even killed. Any warning
should be taken seriously especially when lives are at stake.

Be Prepared – Samoa is located in an area that is prone to
tsunami, cyclones, bush fires, earthquakes and drought; we cannot and do not
control when a natural disaster will occur.
Making sure that we have an evacuation plan in place so that each person
in the household knows where to go and what to do in times of a disaster is one
way that we can prepare.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints encourages
their members to have a food storage and 72 hour kit ready for any kind of an
emergency. These kits usually include
items like a three day supply of food and water, they found that pop top cans
can leak so are not recommended, a can opener, first aid kit, bedding and clothing, toiletries, medication, batteries, torches,
candles, waterproof matches, axes pocket knife, dishes and utensils, money and
personal documents such as medical reports, passports, legal documents and
credit for telephones. Each person in
the household would have a kit and it would go into a bag that is easy to transport
and placed in an area that is easily accessed should an evacuation be
necessary. These kits need to be checked
every six months to ensure food and medications are not out of date and also
that clothes fit. Something to also
consider putting into your 72 hour kit is a board game, books or toys and paper
and pens. With the extended periods of
time with not power and it being unsafe to go outside, children need something
to keep them entertained and it can also be a bonding experience to play games
as a family.

Cyclone Evan has shown me that I will need to get a car
charger for my phone. With the land lines and power being out of order during the cyclone I was reliant on my mobile
phone which needed to be charged regularly.
This would have been easy to do if I had a car charger for my
phone. During the cyclone mobile phones
were our only link to the outside world so making sure to use it only in times
of emergencies and keeping a spare battery are also needed.

I will need to make sure that I have boards and rope
available to cover the windows and secure the roof of the house. This also includes having a stock of
tarpaulins should the roof need mending.
Even if we don’t use or need these kits during a disaster they may be
needed by our friends, family or neighbours.

Get Insurance – Because we do not know when a disaster will
happen or the intensity of a disaster we should make sure that we have
insurance that will cover our valuables and things that we have worked hard to
obtain. The relief of knowing that you
are covered financially should our properties or cars be affected decreases our
stress and enables us to help others.

There is always the possibility that a natural disaster
could take our lives. For this reason it
is also important to take out life insurance.
While a cyclone is an ordeal in itself dealing with the death of a loved
one while also recovering from a disaster would be unimaginable. While you won’t be there to see the fruits of
life insurance, knowing that your family will be taken care of is reason
enough.

Disaster Plans – Often we worry more about our homes, as we
live in them, and not as much attention is given to schools and other buildings
that are important to us. Evan has
damaged school buildings and finding a place where the students can attend once
school begins is proving to be a topic of interest. Maybe now could be a time where the Ministry
of Education, Sports and Culture and village councils could make disaster plans
for each of their schools where possible places to hold classes and procurement
of temporary shelters where classes could be held. This could include
discussions with churches for temporary use of their buildings. But by having plans in place makes it easier
to know where to go and what to do when a disaster hits; because it is not a
question of if a disaster comes but when.